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New Postal Service program could mean more junk mail

The USPS hopes to raise $1 billion for the struggling organization by offering a new service to deliver advertisements directly to mailboxes without an address.

Even as the United States Postal Service investigates a case of leafletting in Lubbock, patrons could find their mailboxes a little fuller as the USPS rolls out a program allowing businesses to send unaddressed mail to ZIP code zones or geographic regions.

Lubbockites could see more fliers, coupons and other advertisements in their mailboxes in 2012 as the United States Postal Service promotes a new service aimed at raising an additional $1 billion in revenue for the struggling organization.

The Postal Service in late 2011 unveiled its Every Door Direct

Mail program allowing businesses to use the postal system to deliver advertisements directly to mailboxes without an address, said Sam Bolen, a Postal Service spokesman in Austin.

The new program aims to be an alternative to businesses going door to door, slipping their advertisements inside folks’ storm doors, looping coupons over their doorknobs or taping business cards near their doorbells.

Bolen called the Postal Services’ goal to raise $1 billion through Every Door Direct Mail “optimistic,” but added the service saw a strong response for the program in its first few months of operation.

“So far, it’s been very popular with small businesses such as the local pizza place that just wants to advertise to a neighborhood, a ZIP

code or part of a ZIP code,” he said.

Bolen said the Postal Service also was hopeful the new program would provide businesses and organizations a relatively inexpensive alternative to the illegal practice of leafletting — when individuals, organizations or businesses place unstamped mail in a mailbox.

Organizations using Every Door Direct Mail are charged standard rate postage, with rates starting at 14.5 cents per item, according to the Postal Service. The service is available through any post office branch.

Businesses that do not put their advertisements directly in mailboxes often have to go through the process of requesting a permit through their city to put advertisements on or in other structures of a person’s home, Bolen said.

The Postal Service receives numerous complaints of leafletting from across the state and South Plains, including one case still under investigation in Lubbock, said Amanda McMurrey, a Fort Worth-area postal inspector.

She could not release details about what organization is accused of leafletting Lubbock-area mailboxes, adding investigators still are working the case.

McMurrey said postal inspectors, the law enforcement branch of the Postal Service, often do not prosecute first-time cases where a business or organization places items in a mailbox without postage. But repeat offenders often are asked to compensate the Postal Service for the lost postage or are prosecuted through the U.S. Attorney’s Office, she said.

Greg Lender, president of the South Plains Better Business Bureau, said he was unaware of any recent cases of a business leafletting mailboxes in the Lubbock area.

“But even if they’re just putting a card in a mailbox, they should definitely not be doing that because it is illegal,” he said.

He said approved methods of advertising through mail or placing fliers door to door with a permit often are a cost-affective way for small businesses to attract customers.

He urged anyone considering to do business with an unfamiliar company advertising door to door to visit the Better Business Bureau’s website at www.southplains.bbb.org to see if that business has received complaints.

To comment on this story:

adam.young@lubbockonline.com • 766-8725

leesha.faulkner@lubbockonline.com • 766-8706

USPS workshop on Every Door Direct Mail

■ What: Free workshop for businesses, organizations and others interested in learning more about the new Every Door Direct Mail program.